Testimonials

In the various roles he has undertaken through the years, Val J. Halamandaris has been a singular driving force behind the policy and program initiatives resulting in the recognition of home health care as a viable alternative to institutionalization. His dedication to consumer advocacy, which enhances the quality of life and dignity of those receiving home health care, merits VNA HealthCare Group’s highest recognition and deepest respect.

- VNA HealthCare Group

I have the highest respect for them, especially for the nurses, aides and therapists, who devote their lives to caring for people with disabilities, the infirm and dying Americans. There are few more noble professions.

- President Barack Obama

Home health care agencies do such a wonderful job in this country helping people to be able to remain at home and allowing them to receive services

Home care is a combination of compassion and efficiency. It is less expensive than institutional care...but at the same time it is a more caring, human, intimate experience, and therefore it has a greater human element...it’s a big mistake not to try to maximize it and find ways to give people the home care option over either nursing homes, hospitals or other institutions

- Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

Medicaid covers long-term care, but only for low-income families. And Medicare only pays for care that is connected to a hospital discharge....our health care system must cover these vital services...[and] we should promote home-based care, which most people prefer, instead of the institutional care that we emphasize now.

- Former U.S. Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-CD)

We need incentives to...keep people in home health care settings...It’s dramatically less expensive than long term care.

- U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

Home care is clearly the wave of the future. It’s clearly where patients want to be cared for. I come from an ethnic family and when a member of our family is severely ill, we would never consider taking them to get institutional care. That’s true of many families for both cultural and financial reasons. If patients have a choice of where they want to be cared for, where it’s done the right way, they choose home.

- Donna Shalala, former Secretary of Health and Human Services

A couple of years ago, I spent a little bit of time with the National Association for Home Care & Hospice and its president, Val J. Halamandaris, and I was just blown away. What impressed me so much was that they talked about what they do as opposed to just the strategies of how to deal with Washington or Sacramento or Albany or whatever the case may be. Val is a fanatic about care, and it comes through in every way known to mankind. It comes through in the speakers he invites to their events; it comes through in all the stuff he shares.

- Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence

Val’s home care organization brings thousands of caregivers together into a dynamic organization that provides them with valuable resources and tools to be even better in their important work. He helps them build self-esteem, which leads to self-motivation.

- Mike Vance, former Dean of Disney and author of Think Out of the Box

Val is one of the greatest advocates for seniors in America. He goes beyond the call of duty every time.

Val has brought the problems, the challenges, and the opportunities out in the open for everyone to look at. He is a visionary pointing the direction for us.

- Margaret (Peg) Cushman, Professor of Nursing and former President of the Visiting Nurses Association

Although Val has chosen to stay in the background, he deserves much of the credit for what was accomplished both at the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, where he was closely associated with me and at the House Select Committee on Aging, where he was Congressman Claude Pepper’s senior counsel and closest advisor. He put together more hearings on the subject of aging, wrote more reports, drafted more bills, and had more influence on the direction of events than anyone before him or since.

- Frank E. Moss, former U.S. Senator

Val’s most important contribution is pulling together all elements of home health care and being able to organize and energize the people involved in the industry.

- Frank E. Moss, former U.S. Senator

Anyone working on health care issues in Congress knows the name Val J. Halamandaris.

- Kathleen Gardner Cravedi, former Staff Director of the House Select Committee on Aging

Without your untiring support and active participation, the voices of people advocating meaningful and compassionate health care reform may not have been heard by national leaders.

All of us have been members of many organizations and NAHC is simply the best there is. NAHC aspires to excellence in every respect; its staff has been repeatedly honored as the best in Washington; the organization lives by the highest values and has demonstrated a passionate interest in the well-being of patients and providers.

- Elaine Stephens, Director of Home Care of Steward Home Care/Steward Health Systems and former NAHC C

Home care increasingly is one of the basic building blocks in the developing system of long-term care. On both economic and recuperative bases, home health care will continue to grow as an essential service for individuals, for families and for the community as a whole.

- Former U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

NCOA is excited to be part of this great event and honored to have such influential award winners in the field of aging.

- National Council of Aging

Health care at home…is something we need more of, not less of. Let us make a commitment to preventive and long-term care. Let us encourage home care as an alternative to nursing homes and give folks a little help to have their parents there.

- Former President Bill Clinton

NAHC Submits Comments on the OASIS C2

June 2, 2016 12:09 PM

On April 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announcedin the FR a request for approval by the Office of Management and Budget and public comments for the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS)-C2/ICD-10. The OASIS-C2/ICD-10 is being modified to include changes pursuant to the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act).

This item set version is effective as of January 1, 2017, and includes the following changes:

Pursuant to the IMPACT ACT:

three new standardized items (M1028, M1060, GG0170c);

modification to and renumbering of select medication and integumentary items to standardize with other post-acute settings of care (M1311, M1313, M2001, M2003, and M2005).

Additional changes:

Changes to the look back period and item number was changed in five items (M1500, M1510, M2015, M2300 and M2400).

Formatting changes:

converting multiple check boxes to a single box for data entry where responses are mutually-exclusive, and

changing the numbering for pressure ulcer staging from Roman to Arabic numerals.

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) raised concerns regarding the multiple applications (payment, value based purchasing, star ratings, and quality measure reporting) that the OASIS assessment instrument has for home health agencies. Noting that accuracy in completing the OASIS data set is imperative. Even minor changes to the OASIS will require additional training and could affect accuracy.

NAHC is also concerned that the requirements for cross setting measures and standardized assessment data could result in a lengthy assessment tool that will become very burdensome for agencies to administer. NAHC recommends that existing OASIS items be replaced or altered where duplication and/or overlap occurs.

A recommendation was offered to incorporate the revised the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) changes in terminology and updates that went into effect April, 2016.

And as usually, NAHC believes CMS has underestimated the burden for agencies in relation to the cost for training, collection and submission of the OASIS data set.